Worm'd: Worthless Opponent
by Freohr Weohnata Kausta
Summary: Usually when you create a CYOA, you just sit around and write a story. This didn't happen to them. They created a CYOA, then got tossed into the world they created. Now stuck as a girl, they have to survive high school, drama, and, most importantly, Parahumans. But hey, at least they have a friend in Taylor and a useless piece of rock floating in space called Frank.
1. Hacker 1-1

No, no, no, no, no! Why today?! Why today of all days?! Sliding down the rail of the main staircase- clothed, hair wet, and backpack held on by one strap- I jumped off and slid past my dad, giving him a kiss and saying, "Love you, dad, see ya!"

"Love you too, Ana!" he called back as I slipped on my shoes and ran out the door.

Somedays, it's okay to be late for school, but today? Nuh uh, being late for school today is a wish for trouble. It's days like these that I'm glad that I live close to the school building.

Five minutes of jogging- read: running at a full sprint- I slid and came to a walking stop next to my friend, and troublemaker associate- though she doesn't accept that title- Taylor Hebert.

Raising an eyebrow, she asked, "Slept in, again?"

I huffed, slightly out of breath, "I swear I set it last night."

She hummed sarcastically. I don't even know how she does that.

"I'm serious here!" I spoke as we started walking up towards the doors of the school, "I distinctly remember me flicking the 'off' on the alarm setting on my phone to 'on'! Then I went and fell asleep- just like I always do!" At just that moment, I felt my phone start to vibrate and the tune I use for my alarm started going off. I buried my face- which was glowing red with embarrassment- in my hands, groaning out, "Oh my freaking god."

Taylor, as unhelpful as she was, stood there grinning like a loon. "Well, you did set _an_ alarm," she said, still grinning.

"Shut up," I mumbled and pulled out my phone, turning off the alarm. It was the seven-thirty alarm, instead of the usual six-thirty alarm that I have set for school days.

"C'mon, let's go get our stuff." She nudged me in the shoulder and we started moving again towards the school. Entering the school, we weaved through the crowds and made our way to our lockers. I was against the idea of having lockers in case they got vandalized, but Taylor had insisted on getting them and I caved.

Quickly overtaking her while weaving through the crowds, I got to our lockers slightly earlier than Taylor. And oh boy, what a scene I came into! "Sophia. Emma. Madison. Could you, ya know, move away from my locker?"

Sophia Hess, one of the school's 'popular' girls, she was a track star in the school. Dark skinned with her black hair pulled into a ponytail majority of the time, she could almost be attractive- if she just lost the cruel smirk she wore ninety percent of the time.

Emma Barnes, the second one of the school's 'popular' girls, she was an amateur model- featuring in several magazines that I've seen at the markets. Lighter skinned with a tan, she usually had her red hair loose and free. I will not admit to finding her attractive.

Madison Clements, the third one of the school's 'popular' girls, she was a late bloomer- one of the ones that hasn't fully developed yet, but she had developed over the course of the summer last year, but you could see remnants of the cutesy act that she'd put up. She had her brown hair about shoulder length and held up with pins, usually blue ones, and wore a strapless top and a denim skirt. Though, she'd expanded her wardrobe a bit more and had on a pileated dark blue skirt on rather than a denim one. She still wore the strapless top, though. She. . . was okay, that's all I have to say on her.

Sophia smiled sweetly, "Oh, sure, we were just finishing up here. Weren't we, girls?" She and her posse giggled. Horrifically. Ugh, it's like watching a horror show with them around.

"Ana, why'd ya- oh. Emma. Sophia. Madison." Oh, sweet, Tay's here. "What'd you do this time?"

It was Emma's turn to smile sweetly, "Oh, nothing much. Don't worry yourself over it. Besides, we were just leaving, weren't we?" The other two nodded and they turned their backs to us, "Bya, Lesbian, Loner."

I raised an eyebrow, "They've _got_ to get over that."

"To be fair, you _do_ like girls," Tay pointed out.

"Yes, but I'm Bi, not Gay. Sheesh."

"Bi, leaning towards girls."

"Semantics." I waved a dismissive hand, "Now, let's see what 'surprise' they left this time."

Emma, Sophia and Madison were what me and Taylor called 'The Trio'. It's exactly what the name implies, they were a trio of girls that tried to make our life hell. But honestly? They were failing. Horribly. With my special way of dealing with problems and/or bullies- namely ignoring them until they worked out or quit- they failed to ever get me truly mad. Sure, they might've gotten on my nerves several times, but they've never gotten me truly _Mad_, just irritated.

Opening up the locker door, I found a simple little device with a large sack in the middle of it. Poking her head over my shoulder, Taylor asked, "Is that-?"

"Yup. It's a Stink Bomb. Well, not _actually_ a bomb, but the name still stands."

"Could yo-" she was cut off as I put the sack that held the 'stink' in her hand.

"Use it for something," I said, then opened up her locker to see that another one had been planted inside. I easily dismantled that one as well and handed the stink sack over to Taylor, keeping the electronics for myself.

Taylor, used to my simple instructions, put the two sacks in her locker- hidden away- and grabbed her books. I did the same and we moved towards our first class- Parahuman History, taught by Mr. Gladly.

Despite it being taught by 'everyone's favorite' teacher, it was a pretty interesting class. It had the history of how Scion, the Golden Man, came to Earth and how the first Parahumans came about and the subsequent upheaval of the world's- and countries'- laws.

Entering in the classroom, we were met by the typical before-class noise and the smirking face of Emma, which morphed into one of confusion as she saw us unconcerned. Also the lack of smell. Well, noticeable smell. We _are_ in Winslow, of course.

Pushing those thoughts out of my head, Me and Taylor sat down at the back of the classroom- close to the doors to make a quick getaway if need be- like we always did. The bell rang and the remaining standing kids rushed to their seats, not wanting to get in trouble- not that Mr. Gladly will get them in trouble, but he said that he had an aide coming to help him, so they didn't want to get in trouble from the aide. Soon, Mr. Gladly walked in, followed by another person.

Gladly spun around as he reached the front of the classroom, his signature bright smile on his face, "Hello, class!" he spoke brightly, "Hope you've had a _wonderful_ spring break- I know I did- but now we're back to learning!" Nobody cheered. He coughed. "A-anyway, I'd like to introduce to you my new aide- or student teacher, if you want- Nathaniel Brock, Mr. Brock if you want to be formal."

Mr. Brock smiled, "It is nice to meet all of you. As Mr. Gladly said, I am Nathaniel Brock and will be helping him until the end of this semester. As for my late appearance, well, you can blame the higher ups for getting things mixed up. They had apparently gotten me and another person, by the same first name, switched and they said that I had to go halfway across the world to California to act as a Student Teacher." He shook his head, smiling. "I knew something was off and I took it up on them, and thus, I had to wait until Winslow's spring break to actually teach here."

Several students made noises of understanding at this. I looked over at Taylor, who was doodling in her notebook. Rolling my eyes, I poked her with my pencil, when she looked up at me, I nodded up at the front of the room- silently telling her to pay attention. She rolled her eyes, but focused back on the teacher and student teacher.

"What University am I from? Well, I'm from Bay University, the local one here in Brockton Bay," He answered. Apparently someone had asked him a question.

I raised my hand, as did several other people. He looked us over, then pointed at me, "You, in the back."

I nodded and asked, "What are you majoring in?"

"My Majors? Well, I'm majoring in teaching, as you can tell, and also history. Last semester I was student teaching a class for American History, and before that I was doing World History. Good question."

I smiled and nodded as he went back to answering other student's questions. I looked over to see Taylor give me a questioning look. I replied with, "I was just curious. Plus, it isn't as if anyone else was going to ask it."

She shrugged, conceding the point and went back to doodling in her notebook. Again. Rolling my eyes, I focused my attention to where the others were still asking Mr. Brock questions.

Thirty minutes passed where students asked Mr. Brock questions ranging from 'What's your favorite color?' to 'How many girls have you fucked?'- he turned red at that question, but replied with "None!" and quickly moved onto the next question. Soon, Mr. Gladly stopped the oncoming questions and we started to actually work on what he planned for today.

"As you know from before Spring Break, I said that we were going to start on the more recent Parahuman History," he spoke, catching the attention of the class, "Now, who can tell me what the most important event in history after Scion's appearance?"

The class looked amongst itself, not sure. One hand was hesitantly raised- Mr. Gladly pointed at the hand and the owner spoke, "Um, the Leviathan fight?"

"Close, but not quite!" He pointed to another student, "Yes, Bradly!"

"The Siberian fight?" Bradly offered.

"Correct! Good job! Now, who can tell me what was the most important point in the fight against The Siberian?"

Another hand, "Uh, Alexandria getting hurt?"

"No! But that was after what I was aiming after!" I raised my hand. "Yes, Anabeth!" Well, at least he got the pronunciation right.

I nodded, "Eidolon getting killed."

"Yes! There we go! Good job, Anabeth!" Aaand there's the mispronunciation. Typical. I rolled my eyes and refocused onto the lecture- Mr. Gladly telling everyone how the death of Eidolon had almost fractured them, but that they stayed together in his memory.

I'm honestly thinking it was a load of BS.

Soon, the bell rang and we were let out into the mass of humans. Me and Taylor weaved our way through the hallways again, making our way to our lockers. Quickly grabbing what we needed for Coding and Technology- our next class- which wasn't much, we weaved our way through the crowds again, moving towards the computer lab.

About two, three, hours later, and two class periods passed, it was lunch break.

"Okay, I'm gonna stop here, the bell's about to ring," Mr. Brown spoke, "Remember to bring materials to start on the projects. Class dismissed."

I stowed my notebook away in my backpack and stood up, slinging it onto my back. As soon as the bell rang, I was one of the first ones out of the classroom, making a good clip towards the lunchroom. Entering the doors, I glanced at the menus- there were two of them up for two separate lines- and entered one. A couple of minutes later, I was sitting down at my regular table, lunch in hand, and Taylor looking amused.

Raising an eyebrow, I asked, "What's got you so amused, Tay?"

"They tried doing something else."

My other eyebrow raised, "What'd they do?"

"Setting fire to my hair."

"Who's class?"

"Mr. Brown's."

"I'm guessing he didn't take it well." Mr. Brown was never tolerant of bullying.

Taylor cracked a grin, "He's grading them harder on the project than the rest of us. Theirs've got to be perfect."

I cracked a grin of my own, "Sucks for them. Is he gonna go easier on yours?"

She shook her head, "No, I'll be graded fairly, like the rest of the class."

"Hm. Darn. Oh well, at least they'll struggle to make theirs perfect. I'm guessing they didn't take any notes during the class?"

"Didn't see them taking any. They'll probably try to copy off someone else's, and the person they're copying off of might not have taken correct notes- you know who they hang out with."

"Yeah." I truly did know. They were all idiots. We fell into a silence only friends could replicate as we ate. The food was shit, but it was bearable shit.

Finishing up, we quickly moved out of the cafeteria and into the hallways. Moving through the hallways, we made it to our lockers and switched out what we needed for English with Mrs. Johanson- A book and a binder.

Looking past the locker door, I grinned at Taylor, hearing the subtle clicks of my lock changing combination. Again. Rolling her eyes, Taylor muttered, "Show-off."

Grin still in place, I replied, "Better safe than sorry. Besides, it isn't as if I couldn't open it if I tried."

Rubbing her temples, sighing, Taylor replied, "I hate it when you use double negatives- makes your sentences _way_ too more confusing."

"Says the girl that's pegging to be an English major."

"Says the girl who blatantly uses their powers in public."

"Says the girl who doesn't use her power for practical reasons."

"Says the girl who uses hers for absolutely mundane reasons."

"Hey, those reasons are perfectly reasonable!"

"Sure they are. Sure they are."

"Just because you don't use them in normal situations doesn't mean you are better than the rest of us!"

"Just because you _use_ them in normal situations doesn't mean you can start an argument about it."

"Girls, what are you fighting about today?" Mrs. Johanson asked as we entered the room.

I huffed, "The proper applications of powers."

"What Ana's trying to convey is what situations are powers are applicable and when they are not."

I jerked my head at Taylor, "What she's saying is that they're only supposed to be used for combat only, while_ I'm_ saying that they could be used for 'mundane' reasons," I said, making air quotes.

Mrs. Johanson blinked, "Could they? Be used for mundane reasons, I mean."

I nodded, "Yes! Take Kaiser's power for example: He can make metal, right? So, utilizing that, he could theoretically make _thousands_ of knives, forks, spoons, or anything metal and sell them. He could make _loads_ more money than he ever would as an E-eighty-eight member."

Taylor side-eyed me, "You've. . . put a lot of thought into this, haven't you?"

I looked at her, "What else would you expect me to do in my free time? Write?"

Both Mrs. Johanson and Taylor replied as one, "Yes."

I blinked, "Am I that obvious?"

Taylor gave a long-suffering sigh, "Yes, you are."

"Huh." I shrugged, "Eh, doesn't matter."

Mrs. Johanson shook her head, "Go get seated, the bell's about to ring."

We nodded and took our seats, while Mrs. Johanson moved outside to watch the shifting crowd of people moving to grab their stuff as the bell rang for them to get to their next class. Slowly, or quickly depending on how they entered, people piled into the classroom.

Sophia didn't even as much glance at us as she entered the room- as usual, she didn't really bother messing with us while alone- and sat down at her usual spot near the wall. Madison, though, gave us a cruel little smirk before she went back to smiling happily and giggling at whatever someone said to her. It probably wasn't even funny.

Looking away from her, I focused onto the front of the classroom where Mrs. Johanson started listing her plans for this class until the end of the school-year.

Another few hours later, me and Taylor walked out the doors of the school building headed towards my house.

"So, what I'm say is: If I can get the wires to connect _just_ right, it'll power up, but the thing is that I don't know _which_ wires it is. Frank isn't helping in that regard, and I doubt he ever will," I said messing with the electronics that I had liberated from the stink bombs.

"Well, which wires do you think powers the suit up?"

"That's the thing- I know which wires it is, yet don't! It's so frustrating! It's kinda like Schrödinger's box over cat: the box is covering the cat, and you think it's dead, but it _could_ be alive, but it could _also_ be dead."

". . .What about the box?"

"Oh, it's just covering the cat- nothing special about it," I said, waving a dismissive hand, "Besides, it's not as if it's mandatory that I _finish_ it. I can go out in a different suit."

"You just like complaining about it," Taylor stated flatly.

"Yeah," I replied easily, "but hey, at least I got you to bounce ideas off of."

"Like you need me to help with ideas," Taylor stated with an eye-roll. Glancing over at the electronics in my hands, she asked, "What are you making?"

"I dunno. Something random. Maybe a timed tripwire without wires." I looked closer, "Yeah, looks like one. Might work with what I have. If I get some fishing wire, I might actually be able make it kinetic instead of software-based. Of course, I'd have to replace the wire every time it breaks, but if I leave it at easily accessible locations then it'll be easier to replace. But additionally-" a hand falling onto my head, cutting me off.

Taylor looked down at me with a raised eyebrow, her hand still on my head. I chuckled sheepishly, "Rambling again, sorry."

Rolling her eyes, she took off her hand and we entered my house- which we had arrived at while I was rambling. Stowing away the half-built tripwire in my pocket, I opened the door, calling out, "I'm Hoooooo_ooo_me!" while taking off my shoes.

Coming out of the basement door, covered in grease and welder's goggles on his forehead, dad came out, greeting us, "Welcome back, didja have a good day back at school?"

I shrugged, using that motion to take off my backpack, saying, "Eh, could've been better. The annoyances tried to do something- stink bombs in our lockers- but I dismantled them easily."

He raised an eyebrow, "Did ya keep the parts?"

I rolled my eyes, "Duh. Why wouldn't I keep things given to me for free?"

Dad cracked a grin, "That's my girl. I'll be messin' around in the basement if you need me."

"'Kay!" I called back as I pulled Taylor up the stairs to my room.

Slinging my backpack to a corner of the room, I closed the door and activated the holograms, making the room light up in a faint blue light. Smirking as she set her backpack down next to mine, Taylor asked, "Still haven't been able to change the color?"

I scowled, "Nope- still haven't. It's annoying, I want it RED! But NOoooo! It has to be BLUE! Ugh." I shook my head and grinned at Taylor, "Anyway, let's start, shall we?"

* * *

**Alright, here's the alternate to Worm'd: Gestation; Worm'd: Worthless Opponent!**

**This is the first one I started on and finally finished. I'll be updating and writing the two books at the same time- if possible- so you can keep a look out on that.**

**Welp, if you want to see the Build, just put up a review on it, and I'll put it up on here.**

**I'm _also_ cross-posting this on spacebattles (Same name)**

**The CYOA I used is Worm CYOA 5: Update Gimel**

**-FreohrWK**


	2. Hacker 1-2

"When you said, 'Let's get started' this wasn't what I had in mind."

"To be fair, I had no idea what I was saying either."

"But, despite the wording, this place does have a pretty nice view."

"Well, of course, we're on the Medhall building- the tallest building in Brockton, ya know."

I lowered the sniper rifle from where it was pressed up against my face, "Besides, we can see what's happening from up here."

"Yeah. Exactly nothing. It's too far to see."

"You're just blind," I stated flatly, looking up at Taylor, well, Skitter in costume.

She looked at me offended, "I am not."

I raised a disbelieving eyebrow, "Really?" I held up three fingers, "How many fingers am I holding up?"

A second passed. "Three."

"Congratulations, you failed. You are blind."

"Wha-? But there were three!"

"Yes, but you took too long to say it. You are blind."

"That doesn't prove anything!"

"It proves enough. Do you want Panny to heal ya? I could ask her for ya."

"No, I'm fine. Also, stop saying 'ya' it's southern and annoying."

"Nah, I like it, ya'll just have to deal with it."

"That's not even a word!"

"It is now, I just said it."

Taylor threw her hands up in exasperation, "That's not how it works!"

"That's how it works now."

Taylor ran a hand down her mask, "Whatever. So, are we gonna actually go down there and fight some baddies or are we just gonna stay up here?"

I pulled the trigger on my sniper rifle, shooting an empty can that was in an alleyway, scaring some Merchants that were selling drugs nearby. I waved my hand for Skitter to follow, "C'mon, I found some Merchants selling drugs." I slung my rifle across my back and jumped off the roof. I could just barely hear Skitter sigh in exasperation before the sound of wind hit my ears.

Activating the jetpack-boosters on my suit, I braved the gut churning G-forces and landed in front of the Merchants, "Well, well, well, what do we have here? Merchants? Selling drugs? Who would've thought! I certainly didn't."

"Eyeah, we weren't selling drugs- nah, we were just uh," the lead Merchant groupie's brain stuttered out as he tried to think of something else as he tried to convince me that they weren't selling drugs to random passerbys. Passerbies? Ugh, English is a confusing language- even though it's my main language!

"Selling candy! Yeah, we were just selling candy, that's all," another Merchant spoke up.

"Yeah, we was just sellin' candies, nuthin' else," The lead Merchant grappled onto that excuse.

I raised an eyebrow- even though they couldn't see it, "Really, now? What was in those candies?"

"Cocaine!" the third spoke up.

"Shut up, Kyle! There wasn't no coke in those- only sugar. Yeah, only sugar."

I nodded thoughtfully, "Huh, so only obscene amounts of sugar in the candies."

"Yeah!" The leader agreed.

"And also obscene amounts of cocaine, meth and sugar in those candies," I finished up.

"Yeah- wait, what? No, there ain't no meth in them!" The leader objected.

I nodded in mock-realization, "Ah, so only obscene amounts of cocaine."

"No, no, no cocaine."

"Okay. Skits?" I called, looking behind them.

The Merchant druggies peered at me in confusion, only to get suddenly slammed by a baton hitting them in one swing. Dopey smiles on their faces, they fell to the ground, unconscious. Skitter came out of the shadows, looking at her baton, "Huh, guess those training regimens you forced me through really did pay off."

I smirked smugly, "See? I told you. Now help me zip-tie these wastes of air before they become conscious again and start polluting the air with every breath." I pulled out a few zip-ties from the pouch at my belt and handed two over to Skitter.

She took them, stating, "Anger much?"

I scowled, "Freaking hate drugs. You take 'em once, then all of a sudden you can't function without them." I kicked the one I already tied up, then moved onto the other, "The PRT can deal with the Capes, but they never deal with the little ones. It's up to us Indies to knock 'em off."

"Well, to be fair, the PRT thinks that by slicing off the head of the snake that they'll kill the rest of the body."

I rolled my eyes, "Yeah, like that'll ever work. They're like Hydras, you cut one head off, another two pop up."

"Well, isn't there other ways to kill a Hydra?"

I nodded, "Yeah, fire, acid, anything that wears down your opponent without actually piercing them. I prefer fire, honestly."

Skitter nodded in acknowledgement, "Okay, I can see that, you pyromaniac."

"Hey, I'm a lesser pyromaniac!"

". . .Which means?"

"I'm not as crazy about fire as the rest of them."

"Sure. Sure. Keep your little delusions, okay?"

"Shut up," I shot back. Walking out of the alleyway that we left the Merchants, I spotted Vista and Aegis. Waving my hand to get their attention, I beckoned them over here. "Sweet, it's the Wards. That means that it's easier to call the cops. Or at least a pickup team to grab the druggies."

Skitter gave me a side-glance, "You're just lucky we're on good terms with them."

Crossing over to us when there was an opening in the traffic, Vista greeted us, "Heya, Gun Mistress, Skitter!"

"Heya yourself, Vista. Good to see ya, Aegis," I nodded to the both of them, "Got some druggies selling dosed up candies to people. Could'ja call up a pick up?"

Aegis nodded, "Doing it, you've been pretty active lately."

I grinned, "Thanks, didn't want to really bother with messing with the druggies to find their phones." I shuddered theatrically, "Who knows where they've been. And yeah, Spring Break's gotten me some more time to get things cleaned up in this town." Aegis nodded, then moved over to call up a pickup.

Vista giggled, "I can see your point. You gonna be on patrol for any longer?"

"Yeah, maybe for another hour then probably go home and work on," I shuddered for effect, "_homework._"

Skitter punched my arm, "Shut up, you still have to do it."

I pouted, "I know, but that doesn't make it any less undesirable."

Skitter rested her head on her head, rubbing her temples through her mask and gave a long-suffering sigh. I think it was the double negative. Vista looked at me confused, "What? That makes no sense."

Skitter waved a hand in my direction, "That's what I've been telling her- don't make double negatives, it just makes the sentence have less sense than her usual sentences."

Aegis came back from whatever conversation he was having with his base, "Alright, the cops are coming to pick the druggies up- Vista and I will stay here to make sure the cops actually pick them up."

"Okay! Thanks again! See ya later!" I activated my jetpack and flew up and out of there; Skitter following me with her own. I could barely hear Vista yelling us goodbye over the wind in my ears.

Landing several blocks away on another building, I pulled out my sniper rifle and started scanning the street. "So, four-thirty, five, we're gonna head to your house?" Skitter asked.

"Yup," I agreed, "Hey, do you think Bartender will have anything?"

Skitter gave me a flat look, "He doesn't sell to minors."

"I know, but we could go there to grab a bite to eat before heading home."

"Wouldn't your dad be cooking something? He usually does when we get back from patrols."

"Nah, he's in a tinkering mood right now, you know how he is, so he'll probably stay in the basement until, like, nine. I'll text him anyways." I lowered the sniper from my face and pulled out my phone, texting him that we'll be eating at Bartender's place. Dad replied almost instantly with an 'ok'.

"He said it's good," I told Skitter, raising the sniper back to my face, "Alright, wanna find a Merchant drughouse to raid?"

"Now?" Skitter asked, looking at me askance.

"Nah, let's just scout it out, then raid it Friday or Saturday. I'm not gonna do a raid during a school week."

"Good. While you were complaining about the druggies being dirty, I was going through their pockets and found one, I think it was the second, that had a paper with an address. Looks like he wasn't good remembering things." Skitter held up a crumpled up piece of paper.

I looked up at her, "Did you get the money?"

She gave me another flat look, "Really? I got an address where one of their storehouses might be and all you focus on is the money?"

"Did you?"

She sighed, "Yes, I did."

"Sweet, let's go check out the address." I got up and grabbed the piece of paper. Scrunching up my nose, I read the address, "Smells disgusting. Anyway, I know where we need to go. Follow me." I activated my jetpack and flew off in the direction of the address.

Landing on a rooftop nearby, I kneeled down and pulled out my sniper and zoomed in on the entrance. Hearing the soft roar of Skitter's own jetpack, I said, "Found it- three heat signatures and another fourth one heading in there. Some smaller heat sigs, but I'm thinking it's just some blunts being lit. Disgusting creatures."

"Okay, can you locate where they keep the stash?" Skitter asked, kneeling next to me.

"Mmm, if they're like the others, then the stash will be in the main bedroom," I moved my scope to look at the indicated area, "Yup, looks like it. Scanning the area now- once it's done, let's head to Bartender's place and grab a bite."

"Sounds good," Skitter replied. A few minutes passed in silence as we waited for the scan to complete.

A small 'ding' rang out once it finished. "Alright, it's done." I got up, stowing away my rifle. "C'mon, let's get outta here." I activated my jetpack and landed in a nearby alleyway. As soon as I landed, I started moving towards the other side of the alleyway, away from the Merchant's storehouse.

Taylor caught up with me and we made our way through town towards Bartender's place. Thirty minutes we were outside a bar called 'Qrow's Bar' the bar that Bartender owned. As soon as I opened the door, a voice, scratchy and refined at the same time, called out from behind the main bar, "Ah, so the duo comes to eat after a successful day! How was it? Did you catch any bugs?"

I rolled my eyes, "Shut it, Bartender. We got some druggies and found their storehouse. Now I want some food."

Bartender was a Case 53, his head was mutated into a crow head- and all that came with that- which meant he had some of the urges of birds. Namely staring into mirrors and eating bugs. "Yes, yes, that I already knew, but do you have any bugs for me?" His big red eyes bored into me. Well, eye, he only had an eye on each side.

I rolled mine from behind my helmet, "I got a big one here for ya." I pointed at Taylor with my thumb.

"Gyah! What? NO! I'm no bug!" Taylor objected.

Bartender shook his head, "No, no, she's too human-like, I want a _real_ bug." He leaned in closer, over the bar, still peering at me with one eye.

I gave Skitter a side-look, "Well, Skits? You gonna give him one?"

Skitter gave a sigh, "Fine." A bug flew up towards Bartender, who promptly snatched it up and swallowed it, giving a sigh of appreciation. Taylor shuddered, "Disgusting. At least give me a warning. Like I have told you. Several times before."

I grinned from underneath my scarf, enjoying the byplay. Bartender's head snapped in front of my face again, "Enjoying the byplay, are we? No matter. Raven! The Duo is here! Make them their usual!" He called to the back.

A voice called from in the back, "I'm already on it, ya asshole! Calm ya tail feathers!"

Bartender's face snapped back towards us, "The food's gonna be out in a minute. Want your usual drinks? What am I asking, of course you want your usual." He sped towards the drinks dispenser and soon, he was back, Orange Fanta mixed with Orange Crush and a glass of water in each hand. Bartender opened his beak to say something, but then snapped his head up. Speeding around the side of the bar, I heard his voice from somewhere behind me, "Please, do not fight in the bar. This is a respected establishment. If you try to do something- and I _will_ know- you will be thrown out. Thank you." Speeding back behind the bar, he sighed, "Humans. All idiots. At least you two have _some_ decency not to start anything."

"Aren't you human?" Taylor asked.

He gave her a flat look and pointed at his head, "Do I look human to you?"

Skitter cringed, "Sorry."

"Eh, no matter. Raven, you done?!" he called to the back.

"I am!" A woman with an almost literal _mane_ of pitch-black hair came through the doorway to the kitchens with two plates filled with food. "No need to shout!"

"You're the one shouting first."

Raven placed the plates of food on the counter in front of us, a smile in her blood red eyes, despite the scowl on her face, "So what does that matter? If I shout, it's because I'm in the kitchens and can't hear you."

"Well get in the kitchens so you can shout again!"

"Fine! I will!" Raven shouted, going back into the kitchens, presumably to make some more food for customers.

"Ugh, crazy harpy."

"I heard that!"

"You were meant to!"

Shaking his head, he looked at our food, which we were already started eating. "Ugh, avian again? Eh, can't argue with good chicken."

A man from one of the nearby stools asked, "Isn't that cannibalism? I mean, you're part bird."

Bartender gave him a flat look. "_Part_ bird. Technically crow, but it's still in the same genus. Besides, chickens are assholes, nobody's gonna care if a few of them died. Hell, we even have farms for killing 'em off!"

The man considered his words for a moment, then shrugged, "Eh, fair enough."

Bartender crossed his arms, smug. He then sped off to serve more customers, leaving us to our meals. Several minutes later, we finished up, paid with the money we got from the druggies, then left with a 'Fare thee well, Duo!' from Bartender.

Landing on a rooftop nearby- man, there were a lot of flat rooftops in this city- we got out of costume, image distorted thanks to a Local Space Distortion Field, and landed in a nearby alley, then dropped the LSDF. Taking a few back-alleyways, we came out into the main streets. Locating one of the bus stops, we waited until a bus came our way, then took the next one that went in the direction of my house.

Getting off, it took us about five minutes to get back to my house. My house was an old house. When we moved to Brockton Bay, they were planning on tearing it down to make more room for other houses, but dad bought it before they could ever go through with it. Honestly, despite its age, it's a pretty nice place to live.

Opening the door, I called out, "We're baaack!"

Dad, coming out of the basement again, asked, "How'd the patrol go?"

I shrugged, "Beat up some druggies, found their local storehouse- gonna plan on raiding it later."

"So, a normal day then?"

"Yeah, a normal day."

"Alright, I'll be in the basement working on a tank if you two need anything," Dad said, then moved back into our sound-proofed basement.

"'Kay!" I called back. I sighed, "Now, time to work on the most dreaded thing of any teen cape's world: Homework."

Taylor laughed, "C'mon, we still got that essay for Mrs. Johanson."

"Wait, we have an essay? Oh, shit! We have an essay!" I exclaimed, then scrambled up the stairs to my room.

* * *

**I'm gonna say what I said on SB: The CYOA is going to be more of a guideline than an actual thing that i'm going to follow.**

**That said: We meet Bartender! He's a Case 53 with a bird head specifically crow. I'm not gonna bother with anything else.**

**Hope ya liked it!**

**-FreohrWK**

**Oh, wait: Anabeth's Costume! **

First iteration is a high-tech Saber-esque (From Fate/Grand Order [Second stage] series) outfit. (Before Story Start- when she first triggered)

Second iteration is one that gets rid of the skirt/dress part and utilizes pants under a short skirt. (During Story Start, made it before moving to Brockton Bay)

**uh that's it, i think. as an aside note, the blue and gold is replaced by red and bronze. there's also a scarf. that's it now. bai**


	3. Hacker 1-3

My foot was bouncing up and down rapidly from where it was on the ground. I'd already tried to make it stop, but then the other would go off. Urrghh, curse Skitter for making me wait- she knew I was restless when we were about to jump into action.

Well, 'jump into action' isn't really a good metaphor- it's more like when we were waiting for a fight. That wasn't good either. Ugh, I'm bad at metaphors.

I heard the near-silent sound of Skitter's backpack as she arrived. "Finally! She arrives!" I whispered.

"Sorry, dad took too long to fall asleep," she whispered back. I rolled my eyes, why couldn't she just tell Mr. Hebert that she was a cape? It wasn't that hard, really!

I paused, considering her dad- he. . .wasn't _really_ the best person to deal with that, but, well, he's still her _father_.

"Whatever," I replied, "C'mon, let's take 'em down." I gave her a side-glance, "You remember the plan, right?"

Skitter gave me a flat look- I had learned to measure her expressions behind her mask- "We've only gone over it a hundred times the past week."

I grinned, ignoring the sarcasm, "Good. Let's go." I pulled out my sniper rifle and launched off the building we rendezvoused at, aiming at the buildings nearby our target. Taylor was right behind me, but landed outside the building itself, surrounding herself with bugs.

Landing crouched, I aimed my sniper at the building, starting up it thermal signature setting. "Okay, I've got sights on them, four in total. One on the top floor, two on the bottom and a fourth walking up to the second floor," I said, trusting that Skitter could hear me.

When I got a buzz from the few bugs she placed on me, I knew she got the message. Watching as she walked in, I aimed for the guy on the top floor and pulled the trigger- just barely missing him as he moved.

The Merchant jolted, as if stung, and his head whipped frantically side to side to see where the attack was coming from. Slowing down a little, he contorted his head in a manner similar to Bartender when he was looking for something and twisted his head to look at where the approximate location of the shot came from.

I grinned and waved at him. He smiled and waved back, then froze, looking at his hand. He didn't get to say anything else, or raise an alarm- though Skits probably already raised it, going in like that- as a bullet brained him right through his temple. He was dead before he hit the floor.

I sighed contentedly, nothing like killing druggies to make me feel better after a cold, hard day of planning. And work.

Damn, those atomic weapons are hard to make.

At least the Bay had plenty of radioactive material underneath the water.

I totally wasn't diving down to get some plutonium or uranium. Totally wasn't.

Okay, fine, I am. But I'm at least wearing something that'll protect me from the radioactivity.

I think. I'm like, ninety-percent sure that I am. It's a good percentage.

Erg, off topic again. I activated the boost on my jetpack and made my way through the shattered window I shot the druggie. Looking around, there wasn't all that much- just the bed, a pillow, conspicuously piled sheets in a corner, a wardrobe, and a dresser. Oh, and the dead and bleeding druggie.

I wrinkled my nose- this was a reason why I like killing from a distance, you didn't have to smell their waste when they died. Stepping over the dead druggie, I lifted the pile of sheets with a gloved hand- no _way_ was I going to touch that with my bare hand- and threw them onto the bed.

Underneath the sheets was- you guessed it- Money! Smells like drugs though. Disgusting. Well, at least they thought to cover it- the last druggie hideout we hit had the money out in plain sight. Idiots. Oh well, at least we still got the money- no matter how bad it smelt.

As I was counting out how many wads of money they had, the faint buzzing grew louder and I heard Skitter say, "The others down below are out for the count." I could see her nose crinkling. "Did you _have_ to kill one?"

I waved a wad of cash idly, "You know what they say, 'A Merchant a day keeps the uh, monster at bay?'"

"You failed that," Taylor stated.

"Eh, it got the point across. Anyway, so far we have about, eh, over two hundred dollars in hard cash from this raid. Pretty good."

"I'll help you count while I keep an eye out for trouble," Skitter stated, crossing the room and sitting down next to me.

I nudged her, "Or several eyes."

She didn't laugh. She was giving me the 'we're on a mission' face. I'm sure of it.

I huffed, "Or just not laugh. that's fine." I turned my attention back to counting the money.

We finished up in a couple of minutes, the full amount being around seven hundred dollars. It was a good amount for a couple of indies. Leaning back, I shoved the liberated money in one of my pockets, and stood up. "So, call the cops, then patrol for a bit?" I asked Skitter.

"Yup, you're calling them, though."

I nodded, then moved over to the druggie that I killed. Rifling through his pockets, I found his phone, then called the cops, telling them the address of the building we hit. Snapping it in half- after we told him we were the Duo- we exited the building and out onto the rooftops.

We spent around thirty minutes jumping rooftop to rooftop, stopping a few criminals and druggies, but eventually made our way to the docks. I shut off my jetpack and rolled with the landing, looking around. Skitter landed next to me, shaking her head, "Why do you do that all the time?"

I grinned, "It's fun. Besides-" I stopped myself as I heard a raised voice.

Frowning, I motioned for Skitter to stay put, then moved closer to the source. "-ugh, no it doesn't. Just get me the materials, and I'll start it, kapishe?" A pause. "Good." The voice sighed. "Idiots. They just throw me into another dimension, then just flat out tell me to go to work. I swear, the people here are purposely stupid."

Eyebrows knitting together in slight confusion, I motioned for Skitter to stay put again, then jumped down into the alleyway.

The man- for it was a man- turned around to look at where I made my landing, "Oh, and who do we have here?"

I summoned a sword and held it up towards him, "Who are you?" I asked.

"I asked you first, little girl."

My face drew up into a scowl, "I'm Gun Mistress. Now, who are you?"

I could tell the man had a grin on his face by his voice, "Me? I'm Bringer. Now, I've gotta scram; farewell, Gun Mistress." He fell back and disappeared.

I belatedly ran up to him to stab him, but he had already disappeared into the ground. I stabbed the ground where he disappeared at, to see if he was in the ground; only proving to dig holes in the concrete.

I sighed as Skitter landed next to me, "Dammit." Looking at her, I asked, "Did you hear the convo?"

She nodded, "Yeah. You think he's a new trigger or a visiting villain?"

"I dunno, he hadn't heard of me- and by extent you." I frowned, "Who do you suppose he was talking to, an employer?"

"From what I could tell, it was. He _did_ say that he was getting materials from them."

"But materials for _what_ is the question." I sighed. "Questioning things won't get us anywhere. C'mon, let's head home, it's late. Early? Eh whatever, we need to sleep."

Skitter nodded and we made our way home, thoughts of Bringer out of our minds for now.

* * *

**Here ya go.**

**-FreohrWK**


End file.
